Slughorn's Christmas Party
by Moonbean Soup
Summary: Boy likes girl. Girl likes another guy. Oh sigh! But throw the Marauders, Professor Slughorn, mistletoe and possibly some firewhisky into the mix. And, well, you'll see...


Slughorns Christmas Party: Marauder-Style

"So Prongs, who you are you taking to Slughorns Christmas Party?" asked a young Sirius Black. He brushed back his long shaggy hair as he took a seat in the Gryffindor Common Room.

"Who do you think?" replied James Potter, smiling. He put his feet up on the table in front of him, while messing up his even shaggier hair.

"Lily said yes?" asked Remus Lupin in shock. He closed the large book he was reading, to join in on the conversation.

James hesitated, "Well…not yet…but any day now, she'll come around."

This was only too standard with James Potter. Ever since he'd met Lily Evans, the poor girl, he had been almost obsessed with trying to make her his girlfriend. Too bad, she hated him with a burning passion. So then began the never ending chase of James Potter versus Lily Evans. And it seemed that Lily was winning.

"Prongs, it's been six years. I'm sorry but don't think it's going to happen" replied Remus, with a sorry glance.

"Shut up, Moony" snapped James.

"He's right, you know!" cried Sirius. "Just MOVE ON, man. Find another chick. Before all the good ones are gone."

"And just who are you taking?" asked James irritably.

"Cleo Carver" he said smugly.

"But she's the best looking girl in the school!" exclaimed Peter Pettigrew, the quieter member of the group.

"Lily's the best looking girl" mumbled James.

"And she's a year older than us" Remus said skeptically.

"I'm aware" said Sirius to Remus, "and I'm _definitely_aware" he said turning to Peter. "But, using my _charisma_and_charm_, I nearly knocked the poor girl off her feet.

Sadly, this aspect of Sirius Black could be considered true. The boy had a god-given gift for driving the greater part of the female population of Hogwarts absolutely batty. And even if it wasn't his charm, his looks had them stumbling over their robes. With his perfectly structured face, large brown eyes, and adorably disheveled brown hair, he caught the eye of quite a few lovely ladies.

"I find that hard to believe" said Remus, waving him off.

"Alright, who are you taking?" asked Sirius, folding his arms in such a haughty manner.

Remus frowned, "I haven't asked anyone" he said. He looked at his feet.

And here lies our main problem people: the young Remus Lupin's quest for love. Unfortunately, the poor boy never had as much luck with girls as his good friend, Sirius did. And the reason why is not as clear as one would imagine. He was a good looking boy. Maybe not as striking as Black, but girls certainly noticed his clear blue eyes and long sandy-brown hair. Not to mention he was one of the nicest and smartest guys in the school. You would think that girls would be drooling over him, and well…they were. What was strange was that Remus took no interest.

Or at least he never said so.

"Oh come on Moony! Are you afraid of girls?" asked Sirius.

"No but I'm afraid of something" he said darkly, while opening his book again.

"Remus, taking a girl to the party, is not putting her in any danger" said James.

"As long as you don't make out with her, and accidentally bite her" teased Sirius.

"That's not funny" said Remus blankly.

"Hey, just speaking from experience" he said with a mischievous wink.

And that was it. The reason why Remus Lupin never had a girl. It was a tragic thing, it was. Very unfortunate that at such a young age, the boy had to struggle with what I guess you could call a second life.

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.

And the only people at Hogwarts who knew were Dumbledore, and his three closest friends. Don't worry; they were all very supportive of him. His friends especially. They had even spent the past years, secretly becoming animagus, just so they could be with him on the long, lonely full moon nights.

"Moony look, as I've told you a million times before, you cannot let your furry little problem get in the way of your entire life. So you're not entirely human. That doesn't mean you can't go on a date. If you were anything of a threat, Dumbledore would have never let you into the school to begin with" lectured James, as he had many times before.

"I don't want to talk about this" said Moony miserably, looking down at the huge book that he obviously wasn't reading.

"Don't want to talk about what?" chirped a descending girls voice from the staircase.

And his eyes lit up.

Maybe there was one girl. Just one very special, very wonderful girl, who caught the eye of Mr. Lupin. He watched her, as she glided gently down the steps. Her green eyes were gleaming in from the low lit lighting of the common room. Her shiny black hair was pulled up into a bun, though a few straggling pieces hung by her face. And as she moved her hand to tuck them behind her ear, Remus snapped out of the minor trance he was in.

"Don't want to talk about that god-awful Potions homework due on Monday!" cried Sirius, who had always been good at excuses and lying. Maybe it was because he was always in trouble, but always got out of it somehow?

"I know, Slughorn, is crazy. He wants us all to go to this Christmas Party, yet he still gives us a good two or three hours worth of homework" replied Rose Geller.

Rose had been a friend of the Marauders ever since they started at Hogwarts. Much like themselves, she was one of the brightest kids in the school, and since they were in the same house they had grown very close over the years. Maybe it was because she also shared a love for mischief, though not as badly as the boys. Maybe it was because she was the only Gryffindor girl who could seem to put up with them. Or maybe it was because she was just a good person. Well whatever it was, it was clear that Rose Geller and the Marauders were all very good friends. Probably the only thing they hadn't shared with her was Remus' secret.

"Oh you're going to the party too?" asked James.

"Of course, it's one of the biggest events of the year" she exclaimed. "I'm looking for my Charms book, I left it here before. Do any of you see it?" asked Rose.

"Is this it?" asked Sirius handing her a book from off the table.

"Yes, thank you" she smiled gratefully. "By the way, that prank you pulled on Filch today was absolutely priceless. I couldn't stop laughing!"

"Oh you liked that! Hmmm…that stupid cat had it coming" he said, proudly. Rose laughed, her green eyes sparkling, as she took a seat on the couch.

"Who are you going with?" asked Remus eagerly, hoping that she would say what he wanted to hear. "I mean, to the party…for Slughorn" he added awkwardly.

"Oh, uh…Cam Corner" she replied, with a dreamy glint in her eye.

Remus sighed. He had been pining over this girl ever since they met, therefore six years. And all they had ever been was friends. Everyday, he wanted to tell her how he felt, but _it_ was holding him back. He could never do such a thing to her. He cared about her too much. Therefore he never said a word about the idea to Rose, or to anyone for that matter. Even his best friends had no idea. Of course, if they ever found out, they would just have to stick their noses into it, knowing them, and the Sirius Black and James Potter are two noses that you do not want sticking in anything. So that was basically the end of that. Rose would go with dreamy Cam Corner, and Remus was stuck all alone.

"That's great" he said through his teeth, plastering a smile on his face.

"Yeah, Cam's cool" agreed James, nodding his head in approval.

"We're working on getting Remus, old chum, here a girl" said Sirius, while rubbing Remus' head harshly. "Any suggestions?"

She looked almost taken aback by the question.

"Well…Mary MacDonald is nice…oh but she has a date already. Ummm…Lucy Lindsey is a Ravenclaw, but she is really sweet as well, and I don't think she has a date yet" she said slowly.

"That's alright, I wasn't really planning on taking a date anyway" said Remus, trying to sound like he wasn't crushed, by the fact that Rose was already taken.

"But everyone's taking a date, Remus! You can't be the only one who is alone!" she cried. He looked at the unhappiness in her eyes, and broke.

"You guys don't give up do you?" asked Remus. He smiled, trying to look happy, even though he wasn't feeling in his happiest mood. I mean, the girl he had loved for the past six years, would never feel the same way, so what else could you expect from the poor boy. "I guess, I'll talk to Lucy" he complied, though he wasn't happy about it.

He sighed deeply. The only reason why he was actually going to ask some one was Rose. She obviously wanted him to have a date, and the fact that she actually cared about Remus, was enough to make him jump off a cliff. So he figured if Rose thought it was a good idea, then it must be a good idea. Besides, Lucy Lindsey was quite nice, and very pretty. Maybe she'd take his mind of Rose for a night.

"That's great Remus!" she hugged him. "I'll put in some good word for you. I promise! Goodnight guys!" and with that she floated gracefully back up the staircase.

Once she was out of earshot, Sirius started, "Yeah Remus! Lucy Lindsey! Not bad, not bad!"

"Oh shut up. She probably won't want to go, anyway" he said, miserably.

Though the next day, when he asked her, this proved to be completely untrue. In fact it was quite the opposite, as she was absolutely ecstatic that he had asked her. A little too ecstatic, actually.

"Oh my god, Remus! I can't wait! This is going to be great! You know I thought nobody was going to ask me, but now you've come along! Oh, I'm so excited-"

"So am I…really" said Remus, trying to be nice, though it wasn't easy. "So we'll meet here, tomorrow at around six?" he asked.

"Definitely! I'll be here at six. Just don't be late. I know I won't. Actually I'll probably be a little early, I don't know-"

"Okay see you then!" he cut her off, and started to escape, the over-bubbliness.

"Bye Remus, see you tomorrow! I can't wait!" and she probably said something after that, but thankfully Remus couldn't hear her.

"What have I gotten myself into?" he mumbled.

"Talking to yourself?" asked a sweet voice on his right. He turned to see Rose smiling at him. "You know that's the first sign of insanity, right?" she teased.

"Trust me I'm way past the first sign" he joked back at her. She laughed.

"What were you talking to yourself about?" she asked.

Remus took a deep breath, "I took your advice, and asked Lucy to be my date to the party." Each word felt like someone was pulling his eyelashes out one by one. The fact was that painful.

Rose squealed, "Oh Remus! Your first date!" she exclaimed happily.

Why did she have to know that?

"I'm so proud of you!" she hugged him. She smelled so good. Oh wait, that's weird. He awkwardly started to put his arms around her waist, when she let go. "I'll see you at dinner" she said, and smiled vibrantly.

"See you then" he said quietly, and watched her walk away. He sighed.

This was not going to be a fun party.

_Authors Note: Hello there! Ummmm...so this is my story. It's not my first fanfic, just my first on this account. But yeah, I hope you like it! Please reveiw. I like reviews. They are our friends. And so are you. Even though I don't know you. So yeah, I hope you enjoyed. I know I had fun writing it. More chapters to come. So happy reading and see yins later!_


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